What is a “throw away” ticket?

Never heard of a throw away ticket? Why would you throw away an airline ticket? Well, read on and I will explain!

An airline ticket that is a throw away ticket is just what the name implies… a ticket that you will simply throw away.

If you are traveling to the Philippines, depending on your visa type, you are required to have an ongoing ticket when you arrive in the Philippines. You need some ticket, whether you intend to leave or not. This is where the throw away ticket comes into play.

There are a number of budget airlines that usually fly from Clark Airport in Pampanga or other airports in the Philippines. These budget carriers often offer tickets to Thailand, Hong Kong, Vietnam and such for as low as $20 or $35. It is relatively easy to find a throw away ticket for $50 or less. This is a valid airline ticket that will indeed allow you to go to the destination that is printed on the ticket. But, for most folks who come to the Philippines and want to stay longer than 59 days, they simply buy this cheap ticket, and they use it to show to the immigration officials when they arrive in Manila (or any port of entry in the Philippines). Showing that they indeed have a ticket allows them to enter the country. There is no law, though, saying that you must use your ongoing airline ticket. So, for many people, after they have shown this ticket and been granted entry to the Philippines, they just throw the ticket away, and go on with their stay in the Philippines.

Philippine Immigration will never require you to show your ongoing ticket again after you have been admitted to the country. If you go to renew your visa or do any other business at the Immigration office, no ongoing ticket is required and none will be asked for.

Bob Martin is the Publisher & Editor in Chief of the Live in the Philippines Web Magazine. Bob is an Internet Entrepreneur who is based in Davao. Bob is an American who has lived permanently in Mindanao since May 2000. Here in Mindanao, Bob has resided in General Santos City, and now in Davao City. Bob is the owner of this website and many others.

Thanks for that Bob, but if I am in America and never been to the Philippines but want to come there to live, do I need to buy a roundtrip ticket when traveling there, and if i don’t need to buy a roundtrip ticket, will I need to buy a throwaway ticket when i get there?

Okay Bob- now i have read & reread the articles but i still have one question, and please forgive me if the answer to this question is stated in one of your articles. If i decide to go the Tourist visa route, i know that i only need a one way ticket and a throwaway ticket, but do i need to purchase the throwaway ticket before i board here or after i arrive there in the Philippines, and where do i purchase these throwaway tickets?

The airline’s do not tell you this when you buy the ticket. Sometimes they will tell you this before you board the plane though, and if they do that you will end up paying full price for a ticket because it is so soon. Buy a throwaway ticket early, or if you’re going home by around trip ticket. You can get a throwaway ticket for $20 or so, so it’s not a big deal.

As I am only visiting for a few weeks ( wish I could make it more LOL ) I always arrive with a round trip ticket at NAIA Manila. Our of 12 visits so far I have never been asked if I have a return or forwarding ticket out of the country. Maybe I just have an honest face LOL .

Hi Bob, enforcement is really hit and miss, you just never know when you’re going to be asked. For those who do not have a round trip ticket or some kind of ongoing ticket, you sure don’t want to get asked if you don’t have one.

Very helpful Bob. I have only one thought that should be emphasised. Any foreigner availing of a visitor visa to the Philippines is required to have an ongoing ticket, whether your intended stay is one day or 3 years. Immigration may not ask to see one, because most of your travel arrangements are already displayed before him on his computer screen when you show your passport. It would not be wise to try to enter (as a visitor) without one!

All the years I flew back and forth to the Philippines I was never asked for an onward or return ticket by immigration, but when I flew to retire in the Philippines five years ago, I only had a one way ticket, it was the airline that asked for an onward ticket as they get a hefty fine if they let you fly. I had a cheap ticket to fly from Clark to Borneo.

I have never been asked upon arrival here in RP but I have been asked upon exit from both the USA and Canada. The last time I left here in RP for a visit to the US I bought a round trip from Clark to Boston and a $40 throw away one way from Manila to some obscure place in Malaysia…. I was asked for it in Boston when I got my boarding pass to come back. When I first came here I had a one way and an onward ticket dated a month later out of Montreal. They gave me some problem and I explained it as I understood it. They took about 5 minutes looking it up and let me board…Had me worried there for a minute tho…lol

Technically, you need a throwaway ticket. The law is that you must have a ticket exiting the Philippines which is dated for departure within 59 days of your arrival. However, with a 6 month departure, I think you will be fine. That is only my opinion, though, and you should not make your final decision only based on what I say.